In the 1980s, before Branson boomed with hundreds of country music shows, outlet malls and buffets, my mother and her friends would visit Eureka Springs (Carroll County).
I went with them several times. As a lover of history even then, I enjoyed seeing the city's historic buildings, such as the Crescent Hotel and the Carry Nation House, and learning the stories behind them. It was fascinating.
And as good residents of the Bible Belt, no visit to Eureka Springs was complete without a visit to the Great Passion Play and the Christ of the Ozarks statue.
For those of you not familiar with the Christ of the Ozarks, it’s a 67-foot-tall statue of Jesus made of steel and mortar on top of Magnetic Mountain near the Great Passion Play amphitheater. Christ’s arms are outstretched, suggesting Jesus on the cross. But the cross is not depicted as part of the statue.
Rev. Gerald L. K. Smith erected the statue in 1966. Originally from Wisconsin, Smith, an evangelist and political activist known for his populist and far-right political views, landed in Eureka Springs in the late 1950s. Smith was one of the main leaders of the populist Share Our Wealth Society during the Great Depression. He was a strong supporter and adviser to controversial Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long.
Years later, Smith founded the Christian Nationalist Crusade in 1942. He was instrumental in the founding of the America First Party in 1943 and was the party’s 1944 presidential candidate, which at the time made him only the third Arkansan to run on a national presidential ticket. Unfortunately for Smith, he received less than 1,800 votes and his political career ended.
After Smith and his wife, Elna, moved to Arkansas, they bought and remodeled a mansion as their retirement home. In 1964, he began construction of a planned religious theme park called "Sacred Projects" near his home. Smith only had $5,000 to his name at the end of 1963, but he had raised $1 million by spring 1964 to begin the design and construction of the first sacred project on his list, the Christ of the Ozarks statue.
In 1966, the Christ of the Ozarks was completed at an elevation of 1,500 feet overlooking Eureka Springs. The construction project was designed and overseen by sculptor Emmet Sullivan, who had studied and worked under Gutzon Borglum, the lead designer and sculptor of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
The statue sits on 320 tons of concrete and was designed to withstand winds of 500 miles an hour. It was completely built by hand from mortar and steel and is reinforced to withstand the force of a passing tornado. Christ of the Ozarks is the fourth largest statue of Jesus in the world.
Gerald L.K. Smith's original plans also called for a life-size recreation of Jerusalem as it appeared in the days of Christ. But the idea was eventually abandoned.
Smith did build a 4,100-seat amphitheater and a stage for the Great Passion Play, a live performance that tells the story of the last days of Christ on Earth. The play is performed three nights a week from the first week of May through the end of October. It was inspired by another passion play, which is performed every ten years in the town of Oberammergau, Germany. For more information on the Great Passion Play, the Christ of the Ozarks and the other Bible-based attractions located on the grounds, visit www.greatpassionplay.org.
If you’ve never seen the Christ of the Ozarks in person, I’d encourage you to do so next time you are in the Eureka Springs area. Religious or not, I’m sure you’ll be just as impressed with it today as I was back in my childhood.
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